I’m happy to be at the University of Ottawa, participating in a workshop considering “the social movement society.”

The idea is from a book Sid Tarrow and I edited nearly fifteen years ago.  We argued that social movements were becoming a routine part of politics in rich democratic countries.  We said:

People (and authorities) were more tolerant of protest, particularly less disruptive protest.

A wider range of constituencies would use protest to represent their claims.

The infrastructure supporting social movements had become increasingly professionalized–and dependent upon financial resources.

I expect to get a clearer sense of all that we left out or got wrong.  It’s going to be great.